“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Billy grinned happily, then he noticed Beech’s bandage. “What have you done to your hand, sir?”
Both Victoria and Tollman expressed concern and apologized for not noticing it earlier. Beech laughed and waved the bandaged hand in the air.
“There’s nothing wrong with my hand! It was a subterfuge Caroline and I adopted for our trip to see Murcheson’s doctor and we don’t have time to tell you about it now.”
And with that, everyone, except Caroline, left the house. She went back into the study and looked at her notes from the meeting with Dr McKinley and decided to go down to speak to Esme.
In the kitchen, everyone was quietly preparing lunch. Cook, Mary and Esme looked up as she opened the door.
“Hello, Doctor,” said Mrs Beddowes breezily. “What can we do for you?”
“I’m afraid that it will be just myself and Lady Maud for lunch, Mrs Beddowes. Everyone else has had to go out.”
“Oh dear … well, never mind.” Mrs Beddowes seemed unconcerned.
“There is one piece of good news, however—of particular interest to Esme,” Caroline continued and Esme looked up, intrigued. “Polly’s been found.”
There was a chorus of approving comments and Esme burst into tears. “Oh, thank the Lord! Is she alright, Miss?”
“Yes, she’s perfectly fine and working in a hospital as a cleaner. Mrs Ellingham and Mr Tollman have gone to fetch her and bring her here. You will be able to talk to her later but I’m afraid Mr Beech has to question her first.”
Esme nodded happily, dabbing away her tears with a handkerchief.
Caroline turned to Mrs Beddowes. “Cook, do you mind if I borrow Esme for five minutes? I just want to ask her a few questions.”
“No problem, Miss,” said the affable Cook. “I just need her back to serve lunch up, that’s all.”
Caroline assured her that it would only be a few minutes and signaled to Esme to follow her upstairs. Once they were in the study, she picked up her notebook and pen again.
“Sit down, Esme. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about Doctor McKinley. Mr Beech and I went to see him this morning.”
Esme’s face darkened. “Evil man he is. Sorry, miss, I shouldn’t have said that!”
“It’s quite alright Esme. To tell you the truth I’m not that fond of him myself. Now, when we saw the doctor, he said that Mr Dodds telephoned him to tell him the news that Lord Murcheson was dead. Do you know anything about that?”
“Well, I did hear him making a telephone call to someone, just after you had taken Lady Harriet off to hospital but I was in such a state—I fainted you know—that I didn’t hear who he was talking to. I can’t believe it was the doctor, though, because Mr Dodds didn’t sound very respectful. I did hear him say, ‘I’m not dealing with this on my own …’ like he was very angry. I mean a butler wouldn’t talk to a doctor like that, would he, Miss?”
“No, I suppose not. Do you remember anything else about the telephone conversation?”
Esme thought for a moment and then said, “I didn’t hear much of the conversation after that but he did raise his voice at the end and he almost shouted to whoever it was ‘sort it out or I’ll take measures.’ He did sound very angry, Miss.”
Caroline noted this down in her book. “So, Esme, the doctor said that Lord Murcheson never, or rarely, left the house and that the doctor always visited him. Is that true?”
Emily made a disapproving face. “I only ever saw the doctor come to the house once in the whole three months His Lordship was back from the war. I suppose he could have come when I was out on errands for Her Ladyship but that was only once a week. No one ever mentioned to me that he had visited while I was out and Cook would have told me. She loved to gossip. I did see a nurse once, though …”
“Oh?” Caroline’s interest was piqued. “When was this?”
“Late at night. Must have been about ten o’clock. I had a cold and my throat was so sore. I snuck down to the kitchen to make myself some hot lemon and honey. We weren’t supposed to come downstairs after nine at night—Mr Dodds’ orders. He said His Lordship would be on the prowl and it would be safer if we stayed in our beds …”
“What about Polly?” Caroline interrupted her. “How did Polly manage to overcome Mr Dodds’ orders?”
Esme smiled. “She could be really stubborn, could Polly. When he found her, the first time, and told her off, she said ‘My Lady asked me to be near her at night, Mr Dodds. Are you going to go against the wishes of Lady Harriet?’ He just sort of growled at her and left her alone after that. She said to me that if he complained again, she would ask him why he wasn’t the one protecting Her Ladyship. I’d like to have seen him answer that one.”
Caroline went back to Esme’s previous narrative. “You said you saw a nurse one night? I’m sorry I interrupted you. Can you tell me more? You said you came down to get some hot lemon and honey …”
“Oh, yes. So I’m creeping down the back stairs to the kitchen when I hear a taxi drawing up, so I looked up from the stairwell window and I see this nurse get out of the taxi, carrying a bag and Mr Dodds must have been waiting for her, because he came down the front steps to meet her. He probably didn’t want her to ring the bell and wake everyone up.”
“I see. And where was Lord Murcheson at that moment?”
“Probably sleeping in the downstairs drawing room, Miss. He didn’t sleep upstairs much, unless he was very drugged. He was in a lot of pain with his back and he didn’t like to go up and down the stairs. But, sometimes, he would be so fired up, Polly used to say, that he would take those stairs without any bother and come looking for Her Ladyship. Polly said that he was very drugged when he had those episodes.”
“Did he ever attack Polly, in order to gain access to the room?”
“Not that she ever said, Miss. She would just tell him that Her Ladyship was ill and he would go away. Without a murmur, she said. Although, sometimes Mr Dodds would come and get him and take him back downstairs. Mind you, Polly had only been guarding the mistress for the last month. Lady Harriet had started being sick in the mornings and not feeling quite right and that’s when Polly decided to guard her.”
The pregnancy, Caroline thought. Polly started guarding her when Lady Harriet found out she was pregnant.
She asked Esme one last question. “So, you don’t know how often this nurse visited?”
Esme shook her head. “No, Miss. The doctor should have come more often in my opinion. Toward the end, Lord Murcheson was having one of his violent rampages practically every two days, according to Polly. She was worn out with it all.”
“Thank you, Esme. You can return to the kitchen now.”
Esme stood and curtsied. “Thank you, Miss.”
Caroline sat and mulled over her notes. To her analytical medical mind, it seemed to her that Lord Murcheson’s night-time rages becoming more frequent were perhaps a sign that someone had been giving him stronger and stronger drugs. Dodds? The nurse? Or the doctor? Or perhaps all three. Then there was the question of Lord Murcheson being infected with syphilis. He could have contracted it in some French brothel but the pathologist said that he was in the primary stage, which meant he had most likely contracted it after returning to England. As the man barely left the house, the disease must have been brought to him. Caroline smiled to herself with satisfaction. She was pretty sure that the nurse at McKinley’s practice had displayed the signs of syphilis in the secondary stage. It seemed to Caroline that the nurse had been offering services to Lord Murcheson above and beyond the medical. Frustratingly, she would have to wait until tonight to tell Peter.
CHAPTER 19
Billy was unusually quiet when he turned up at the Murcheson House
“What’s up, son?” Elsie asked. “You look as though you’ve lost a shilling and found sixpence.”
“Nah,” Billy answered, pecking his mother on the cheek. “Just had a tough morning, that’s all.”
“
I’ve just boiled the kettle. Sit down and have a cuppa.” Elsie always felt that tea could solve the problems of the world.
Sissy entered from the garden, accompanied by Timmy, who threw himself at Billy with frenzy of tail-wagging.
“Hello Billy. You look as though you’ve lost a shilling and found sixpence.”
“There’s a hell of an echo in here,” said Billy sardonically, as he picked up the small terrier and made a fuss of him.
Elsie chuckled. “I just said exactly the same thing to Billy afore you come in, Sissy.”
“Oh well. Great minds and all that.”
A mug of tea was placed on the table and Billy sat down, undoing his jacket and removing his helmet. He gave a sigh of relief.
Elsie and Sissy sat down at opposite ends of the table and looked at him.
“What?” Billy said with a touch of annoyance. “Have I grown another head or something? Stop looking at me like a pair of vultures!”
“We’re waiting for you to tell us what’s wrong, Billy,” said Sissy patiently. “We know you. You’ve got something on your chest and you need to get it off. Come on. Stop messing about.”
Billy sighed in exasperation. “All right. But it’s not pleasant and I’m not sure it’s fit for women’s ears.”
Elsie laughed. “He thinks ’cos we’re living in a mansion we must be refined ladies, Sis! Don’t be daft, son! There ain’t nothing you can’t tell Sis and me. We’re grown-ups.”
Sissy nodded. “We’ve seen and heard things that would make your hair curl, lad. Don’t be shy. Unburden yourself.”
Reluctantly, Billy began to tell them about the events of the morning, accompanied by much tutting and head-shaking from his mother and her sister.
After he had finished telling them the story of the young man that he had taken to hospital, Elsie said, “Well, I can see that you would be down in the dumps after a morning like that. But you did a good job, Billy! Your boss thought so and the lad’s in a safe place where he’s being looked after now.”
“Yeah, but that’s the problem, Ma. The hospital’s only going to keep him for a week and what happens to him then? I hate to think of him going back to his previous life.”
“But he won’t be going back to that house, will he?” reasoned Sissy. “ ‘Cos you’re going to catch the evil swine who did this to him and you’re going to close that place down.”
Billy was frustrated. “Yes, so what’s this lad going to do then? Go back to soliciting on the streets? He’s got nobody. He told me in hospital that he tried to get a job as a wood-turner, ’cos he likes making things, but his father told the factory boss that he was queer and so they wouldn’t give him a job. Now he thinks that he’s only good enough for prostitution.” Billy shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m in a lather about it. I thought I was harder than that.”
“Just like your dad, Billy,” said Elsie, patting his hand. “He was a big, tough guardsman but, deep inside he was a right soft ’un. Wasn’t he, Sissy?”
Sissy seemed distracted. “Wait a minute … did you say he liked making things? This lad … wood-turning?” Billy nodded and Sissy started getting excited.
“Elsie! Do you know who I’m thinking of ?” She nodded and smiled, encouraging a response from her sister.
Elsie thought for a minute … a light came on in her eyes … and she shrieked, “Tolly!”
Sissy laughed. “Yes! Tolly! Match made in heaven, don’t you think?”
Billy looked puzzled. “Who?”
Elsie and Sissy tried to explain to Billy, their words tumbling over each other in their excitement.
“We know this elderly chap … Tolly …”
“Confirmed bachelor, if you get my drift …”
“Cabinet-maker …”
“Such a lovely man …”
“Lives on his own …”
Billy interrupted. “Hold up! Hold up! I’m not giving this George over to another old geezer who takes advantage of him!”
Elsie and Sissy expressed outrage.
“Tolly’s not like that …”
“Lovely, gentle man …”
“Old enough to be the lad’s grandfather …”
“Wouldn’t lay a finger on him …”
“Teach him a trade and all …”
“We wouldn’t be party to that sort of thing, Billy!”
Billy held his hands up to silence them.
“So,” he said firmly, by way of clarification, “this old man, this ‘confirmed bachelor’ who is a cabinet-maker, would take George in, treat him like a grandson and teach him a trade? No funny business. I won’t be made to feel like a pimp?”
“The idea!” Elsie said. “What d’you take us for?”
“The thing is,” explained Sissy, slowly, “Tolly would understand what it’s like for George, being as he is of the same persuasion, as it were. The lad could learn from him … you know … acceptance of his … nature … and some self-respect.”
“Sissy’s hit the nail on the head, Billy,” Elsie emphasized. “It seems to us that these two could help each other. George would have a proper father … well, grandfather … and a proper home. Tolly would have what he always wanted … someone to pass his cabinet-making skills on to and, if truth be told, some company. He’s always been very lonely, has Tolly.”
“Course, we’d have to ask Tolly if he was agreeable,” added Sissy. “He could be too set in his ways to want the responsibility. But it’s worth a try.”
Billy began to feel hopeful. But there was another problem.
“I don’t have the time to sort this out,” he said. “I’ve got too much on my plate for the moment.”
Elsie took his hand again. “Bless you, son. You don’t have to do anything! Me and Sissy’ll sort this out. It’ll be a nice little project for us, won’t it, Sissy?”
Sissy looked like the cat that got the cream. “It certainly will. We’ll go and see Tolly this afternoon and see what he says. Then, if he’s agreeable, we’ll go and see the lad in hospital. Did you say he was in Charing Cross?”
Billy nodded. “Prince Edward ward. Where does this Tolly live?”
“Lambeth,” said Elsie, “There’s a bus down the road that goes straight there.”
“Lambeth’s good,” said Billy. “It would get George away from his old haunts up West.”
“I’ll whip up a batch of teacakes before we go. Tolly’s favorite.” Sissy was up and bustling about. “Now, while I’m up, how about a couple of sandwiches, Billy? Cheese and pickle alright?”
Billy suddenly felt hungry and a lot more like his old self.
“Cheese and pickle would just hit the spot, Aunty.”
* * *
Tollman and Victoria arrived at the formidable Grove Hospital after a very long walk from Tooting Railway Station.
“It’s a fever hospital, Mrs E, very contagious diseases,” Tollman warned. “I doubt that they’ll let us past the front gate. In which case, I don’t think I should flash my warrant card, because young Polly might leg it. Perhaps you should present yourself as a friend of Lady Harriet’s, come to take Polly home, in order for them to go and fetch her without a fuss.”
“Good idea, Mr Tollman,” agreed Victoria. “But do you think you could arrange for a cab to take us back home? I don’t fancy our chances of keeping Polly in our grasp if we have to walk all the way back to the station.”
“Oof. I don’t know where we would find a cab round here.” Tollman looked stumped, then he added, “Tell you what, you take Polly to one side and I’ll flash my warrant card at someone and see if I can get one of their vehicles to drop us down to the station.”
Their plan of action agreed, they stepped inside the huge iron gates and went to the porter’s lodge. The porter came out and Victoria explained to him her task. The man then pointed out the way to the administration block at the beginning of the large, sprawling complex of buildings and they set off once more.
“I have a feeling this is going to be
a long job,” muttered Tollman. “We may get passed from pillar to post before they let us see the girl.”
“Chin up, Mr Tollman,” said Victoria brightly. “We’ve made it through the gates quite easily and these places are rather efficient. I’m sure it won’t be as bad as you think.”
Tollman, therefore, was pleasantly surprised when, in the administration block, a woman scanned a huge blackboard and immediately located Polly. “Oh yes, she’s a probationer on the scarlet fever wards. Block number two. Shame you’re taking her away. She’s got two ticks for punctuality and hard work. I’ll get her wages ready. She’s got two shillings to come. Mildred?” she called over to another woman, “Go and get Polly Sutton from Block Two, please.”
Mildred nodded and left. Victoria gazed out of the window and exclaimed, “Good Lord! There are children in beds outside the building!”
“Yes ma’am,” the woman confirmed, unlocking a cash box and counting out Polly’s wages.
“It’s not very warm today,” Victoria observed.
“No, ma’am, but it is sunny and they’re well wrapped up. It’s good for them. Doctor’s orders.”
Victoria shuddered at the thought of the children being outside in the elements but assumed that the doctors knew what they were doing.
Just then Mildred arrived back with Polly, instantly recognizable to Tollman and Victoria from her photograph. She was carrying her coat and hat and looked very nervous. Victoria smiled to reassure her.
“Polly, I’ve come to take you home,” she said simply.
Polly curtsied. “Is Lady Harriet dead?” she quietly asked.
“No, Polly,” Victoria assured her. “She is very ill but appears to be on the mend.”
Polly smiled and tears began to appear in her eyes. “Thank the Lord,” she murmured. “I have prayed for her every day, Ma’am. Truly I have.”
“I’m sure that helped,” said Victoria kindly. “This is Mr Tollman. He’s here to help us.”
Tollman tipped his hat toward the girl and she nodded.
“Polly, could you sign for your wages please?” said the woman and Polly duly signed and received her two shillings.
Murder in Belgravia Page 23